- Date
- July 27, 1992, 16:00 local (Jul 28, 1992, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Cloudy Lake, AK
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Uncontrolled descent
- Aircraft
- N21375Piper J3C-65
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19920727027699A
- Case key
- 5760
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot failed to enter an aerobatic maneuver with sufficient altitude to effect a recovery prior to ground impact.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot said he had just performed a hammerhead stall, put the airplane into a dive, and could not recover before the airplane 'stalled and mushed to the ground'. Several witnesses/neighbors stated that this was just one of the many and frequent 'mini airshows' performed by this pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N21375
- Reported as
- Piper J3C-65
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 14609
- Airframe hours
- 1,983
- Engine
- Continental C90-12F, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John H. Makinson Jr.
- Registered owner
- Laurie Dodd
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 13, 1991 · 40 hours before
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 29
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,123 total · 600 in this make and model · 984 as pilot in command · 49 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 2 knots
- Visibility
- 70 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.